麻豆约拍

Areas of Speke Hall which have been closed to the public for over 400 years are to be opened up as the National Trust looks to develop displays in the house鈥檚 East Wing.

Speke Hall鈥檚 East Wing housed male and female servants bedrooms, the Butler鈥檚 pantry and the housekeeping room.

From the 1920鈥檚 to 1940鈥檚 it was also home to Tom Whatmore whose father was butler to Speke Hall鈥檚 last owner.

Much of Tom鈥檚 childhood was spent living in the East Wing of the hall, "The family moved in to here in 1926 and I lived here for the next 20 years.

"I was four years old when I came here so it was just like home, I never knew really anything else but this place.

"This was our home and the East Wing was our living accommodation."

Tom Whatmore at his old bedroom door

Tom鈥檚 father Thomas Whatmore moved to the hall in 1920 as butler to Adelaide Watt who lived at Speke Hall from 1878, "In 1921 Adelaide Watt died and left Speke Hall in trust for 21 years and by 1926 the house had been emptied of staff.

鈥淭he trustees asked my father if he鈥檇 stay on as custodian of Speke Hall for the rest of the trust period which would have gone on to 1942, but because of the war went on longer.

"Nothing was blocked off, it was sort of cocooned, pretty well as it is today and the house was open to us, and we just used it as a house."

The area around Speke Hall in the 1920鈥檚 was very different to how it is now, "It was absolutely countryside,鈥� says Tom who shared his childhood there with his brother.

鈥淭he old airport wasn鈥檛 here, that didn鈥檛 open until 1932.

"We had the run of the house and I suppose we did things that we shouldn鈥檛 have done.

"In actual fact we used to roller skate round the bottom corridors.

"We rode our bikes in the moat up and down the banks.

"There was nobody here to stop us."

More recently the East Wing has been used as accommodation for National Trust staff; Tom鈥檚 old bedroom is currently a kitchen.

Servant bells in the East Wing

Jessica Monaghan is Speke Hall鈥檚 Community and Learning Officer; she says the National Trust is asking visitors how they would like to see the East Wing used in future, "We're on the verge of a very exciting project.

"We would like visitors this season to tell us how the rooms in the the East Wing might be interpreted - for example - recreated as the original servants' quarters; or perhaps containing reproduction items which tell the history of the rooms and which can be picked up and handled.

"Or,we might consider using the rooms as interactive learning spaces and a gallery for exhibitions."

Tom Whatmore thinks that opening up the last hidden area of Speke Hall is a great idea and would like to see the area returned to its original state, "The National Trust is making a tremendous job of it and when they open this East Wing I think it will be marvellous.

"Especially if they open it as servant鈥檚 quarters. I鈥檇 like it to be re-equipped as servant鈥檚 quarters with the beds and all that sort of thing."

Speke Hall opens to the public again on 16 March, 2008. The house is open Sundays to Wednesdays until the autumn.